


Lost Souls

by Knack_Wolf



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Bad at updating, M/M, Peoples, Using my own characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-04
Updated: 2015-02-05
Packaged: 2018-03-10 11:42:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3289061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knack_Wolf/pseuds/Knack_Wolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fate is not to be messed with.  So when Nico di Angelo and Will Solace are taken away, along with Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood, Fate is tampered with and now they have to survive the consequences of missing a foretold event of time.  And when other people come into the picture, relationships and promises are tested.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> some characters are from TMI by Cassandra Clare and some are from Percy Jackson (Blood of Olympus) by Rick Riordan. I don't own those characters. I also added in my own characters, please bear with me. This chapter will have two of my characters, Knack and Taryn. I have a feeling this will be more like a novel, though

If there's one thing Nico di Angelo hates more than mornings, it's cute guys in the morning. In particular, the bouncing ray of sunshine outside his cabin door.  
"Nico," Will whined, knocking again, "get up, lazy bones!"  
Nico rolled over and grunted incoherently, hoping to hades to get a couple more minutes of sleep. No such luck as the head of the Apollo cabin burst into Cabin 13, scattering shadows and silence. Brightness and birdsong flooded Nico's senses despite the pillow pressed firmly to his face.  
"Don't you remember what today is? It's June 20th! C'mon, get up!" By the sound of it, Will was pacing, or more accurately skipping, around the room. "It's your birthday! It took a while to dig up the information, but I found it last week!" That's why he'd been more hyper recently. "You haven't had a proper birthday in, like, forever! What do you want?"  
Finding a pause in Will's rambling, Nico looked up at Will. "What I'd really want for my birthday is for you to get out of my cabin and let me SLEEP!" With that, Nico jumped out of bed and pushed out the son of Apollo, slamming the door for good measure. Ever since the Gaia War, Will had been finding as many excuses to be annoyingly friendly to Nico as possible. Coming into the cabin was a first, too.  
At times it was endearing. Other times, Nico wished his sister wasn't so opposed to foul language.

Will's heart wouldn't slow down. In the few weeks since the war, he had been chasing Nico relentlessly. Overhearing Percy, Will finally decided to go after his long time interest. Of course, it was only after those three days in the infirmary, but every free minute Will had was spent by Nico's side.  
He'd been taking it easy, not wanting to scare off the shy demigod, but it was difficult to not wrap the boy in his arms and kiss the daylights out of him. And today, Will had taken it one step farther, stepping into the Hades cabin. All he could think while doing that had been how he wished this was a routine thing, visiting Nico. An then his thoughts went somewhere else entirely different and not as innocent.  
Nico had gotten out of bed in only a teeshirt and boxers. Will spent a moment to enjoy the sight of the younger boy's bare legs and snug fitting underpants. He would have commented, but then found the door slammed in his face.  
Now, walking to the dining pavilion for breakfast, Will kept imagining that oh so sexy image of Nico. He hoped it only showed in his face and not somewhere farther down.  
"Will!" Austin, one of his siblings, called as he ran toward him as fast as possible. "Will! Will! There's a stranger in the forest, and all the monsters are attacking campers!"  
Muttering proficiencies under his breath, Will ran to the Big House to grab his field bag. It was bad enough for the monsters to get bold, but before breakfast? That wasn't fair. Sprinting to the forest, Will crested a hill and saw the commotion.  
The first thing to catch his eye was the stranger, sitting in the midst of the fighting, his leg at an awkward angle. His head hung down to hide his face, but not even a twitch of the fingers gave away that he was aware. The stranger wore an odd black cape that spread in a way that it seemed something else was under it. Campers surrounded the stranger, but were facing outwards, defending. Monsters, probably as many as there were in the camp, were surging against the campers, making an enormous effort to get to the stranger.  
Will ran down the hill, already seeing injured and unconscious campers. Surprisingly, the monsters took no notice to the disabled campers. Unfortunately, the monsters weren't dying, unless vital parts were cut off. And that was difficult to do, unless one had 30 minutes with a chainsaw.  
Before reaching the battle, Will saw a scorpion-thing strike down Jason, creating a significant gap in the circle, as Jason's swing often goes wide in a battle. Immediately, four more monsters rushed to the opening with the first and caused campers to fall down.  
Even though he was desperately needed, a feeling came over Will and he stopped, his gaze falling on the stranger. Closer up, he thought maybe it was a centaur, although it had an odd disguise. It would explain the limb. If it was real, the leg had been seriously busted, and the mangled some more, to the point where amputation would be the best bet of survival. Unconscious or not, any hominid with such an injury would show the pain in its features.  
It seemed as if the same urge hit everyone, campers and monsters alike, as they halted and turned to the boy stranger. Will let out a gasp as he lifted his head and seemed to stare straight at Will. The eyes, so strange, saw more than just appearances, they tore through Will's soul and watched every second of his life in less than a second. And then the impossible happened. The stranger's cape lifted, and Will could see why it had been so large and deformed on the ground. Two dark wings rose over the stranger's head, large enough to be able to knock out half of the circle of people and monsters in one sweep. As if sensing this, campers scuttled away from the powerful, bird-like wings.  
Monsters were not so smart. The sight of sunlight glinting off the black and glossy feathers continued time. Campers yelled and ran, and Will's feet moved of their own accord, carrying him to the wounded. He wasn't the only one there, as several of his siblings wrapped cuts and healed fractures. Moving amongst the injured, Will's mind focused only on healing and the battle faded away.  
Until the son of Hades was hugging him.  
So maybe it wasn't like that. Nico roughly pushed him off and ran to join the fight. Regaining his senses, Will realized his dream had not come true. He had gotten too close to the fighting, or the fighting had gotten too close to him, but he flown through the air to land to stratal Nico. Bruises would surely mark the moment, already forming on the insides of his thighs, which had been pressed against Nico's hip ones and --  
Will shook his head as he saw he had almost gotten hit again. He could continue going over the scene in a bed, when all of his siblings were fast asleep. He had to do a couple more things before that.

Slash, slash. Nico's Stygian sword usually worked better than Celestial bronze, but now it was making little progress, considering the work put into it. The thing didn't want to die. To his left, a camper was struck down and the monster turned towards him. However, before Nico could engage, a sword was thrust into its back. The monster in front of him also went down. Looking up, Nico saw the stranger swooping up, his wings casting large shadows on the battle.  
And then the wings were tucked back, and the stranger was diving at Nico. He didn't have time to move and then it felt like a bus hit him. The stranger held him by the belt loops, pressing their hips together. It was anything but romantic. Nico also noticed he was considerably shorter than the Italian, made more obvious by the great span of the wings. He was also Asian, although why that stuck out, Nico didn't know.  
He felt a lurch as the stranger gained altitude, then let go. Air whipped against his back, and he stretched out his hands to reach for the stranger. No shadows could take him away while in the sky. The stranger dove again, coming behind Nico to wrap arms under his and around his waist. And then they were gliding again. Over the battle, which the campers were finally beginning to get an advantage.  
'Choose,' a voice whispered in his head. As if he was experienced in such actions, Nico gazed down at the scene and reached his hands out to the one who stood out. Will. Perhaps hearing his mental decision, the boy looked up. It certainly wasn't because of the beat of the stranger's wings, which were silent despite the size. Will reached his hands out and Nico grasped them as they glided by. And then they accelerated and Nico had to close his eyes against the wind.

\------------

Magnus Bane hated his phone. Especially since it was currently disrupting his make out session.  
"Magnus," the breathless shadowhunter moaned underneath him. Sighing, Magnus got up and picked up his phone, which refused to go to voicemail.  
"WHO DARES DISTURB THE --"  
"Me!" a cheerful voice on the other end cut him off. "I think you're buzzer's broken, it doesn't seem to alert you to my presence."  
Magnus sighed again, remembering how he had muted the darn thing after Jace had come calling on Alec during an intimate moment. His boyfriend came up behind him, pressing a bare chest to his bare back and letting arms hold his stomach.  
"I just wanted to let you know. I wouldn't want to intrude without you having a warning," the cheerful voice continued.  
"And you're not going to intrude because - Ah!"  
"Hello!"  
The owner of the cheerful voice stood in front of him. He was short, a good foot and a half shorter, and looked somewhat like Magnus, with darker Asian skin. But where Magnus was like a long, elegant panther, the kid looked just like that. A kid. Magnus wouldn't have thought anything of him if he had passed him in the street.  
"Who are you?" Alec asked, blushing at being caught in his position. But he didn't let Magnus go.  
"Taryn," the kid said, bouncing around. "Are you coming with me or not?"  
Alec had the good sense to grab their shirts before they were pulled through portal with the kid.


	2. Babble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They meet. Little background info on new characters. Ta-da

Nico didn't know what to make of his situation. The winged boy had dropped them in front of a secluded cabin in the middle of the forest and motioned for them to go in. Will refused, babbling on about how the boy would land without farther injuring himself. The only response he got was the boy literally disappearing before their eyes. The scene in the cabin was even more confusing.  
The cabin was much bigger than it looked. From outside, it seemed like there was only one room, but inside, the main room was larger than any cabin at Camp Half-Blood and had doorways branching off to other rooms. The only furniture was a large couch against one wall and a low table in front of it. Currently on the couch was one man laying on the other, sucking his breath out with his mouth. Nico blushed at this.  
Then his attention was drawn to the door opening behind him. The men on the couch finally untangled themselves, the one with the scars blushing brightly. Another Asian guy was walking into the cabin, shorter than the winged one and had longer hair. He didn't seem surprised to see Nico and Will or the other two men, but he was almost --  
"You're here!" he exclaimed.  
Nico just scowled and glared. "Explain," he growled, sensing this one would be more talkative than the first.  
"Okay then!" He seemed to dance over to the couch, sitting on the blushing man. "My name's Taryn. This here is Alec and the sparkly one's Magnus. Boys, the blonde is Will and the other is Nico. That's pretty much all I can tell you since it's all I know because Knack, the one who brought you in, has serious trust issues and, wait!" he screeched, causing everyone in the room to jump. "If you're here he must be here but where is he and why didn't he come see me?" With that the guy, Taryn, jumped up and started running around, going in and out of rooms.  
Now Nico was really lost, but beside him Will was beaming and walked over to the couch. Nico followed, not knowing what else to do. Halfway there, "the sparkly one" rolled off the couch onto the floor with a dramatic sigh. With an equally dramatic flourish, Will sighed as he sat at the table and put his head on his hands. Alec and Nico rolled their eyes.  
"That rat hasn't even offered breakfast," Magnus moaned. Footsteps echoed through the cabin. "I'm going to starve and become thin and my ribs will show and none of my clothes will fit."  
Will could only hold back a laugh for three seconds and Nico snorted, making Will laugh even harder.

\-------

Alec didn't remember going to sleep. He could recall some of the conversation with the two boys. He and Magnus had explained the existence of angels and downworlders. He found it particularly interesting the Nico was "the Angel" since the grumpy and shy boy didn't seem very... innocent. And then the blonde said there were multiple gods that controlled Earth and fought beings that wanted to take over the world. Even though both sides fought monsters, none of them seemed to be even remotely similar.  
Their disbelief was broken when Taryn, whom all had forgotten was there, started yelling from another room. Magnus's attention was immediately caught.  
"Don't take that off! We have company! I don't think they want to see your - Ah! No! What are you doing?! Don't put that in my --" Taryn shrieked, which was followed by some very violent noises. And splashing water.  
Nico pulled out a black blade and ran off, followed by Magnus, Will, and Alec. What they found was something Alec could never think he would see in a million years.  
Taryn sat in the middle of the room, completely drenched, as well everything else in the room. Except the cat, sitting on Taryn's chest and looking extremely proud. Even if he never found out what had happened, this was one of the funniest things Alec had ever seen, made better when Taryn muttered "It was the cat's fault."  
And then Alec woke up on top of Magnus, but under Nico and Will. It seed as if someone had taken all of the guys and piled them on each other on the floor of the main room. Taryn was sprawled off to the side, sound asleep.  
Suddenly, Magnus jerked awake, breathing heavily and sending bodies tumbling. Alec crawled over to his boyfriend, hugging him close. Over the past few months Magnus had woken up to the belief that Alec was gone, and it terrified both of them. Nico grumbled about hating to wake up while Will already looked wide awake even though he just woke up.  
"Do I smell...coffee?" Will asked, sniffing the air. Indeed, the scent of coffee was slowly filling the air, as well as the sound of frying bacon.  
Magnus's mood changed immediately with this realization, but no one moved as they looked at Taryn suspiciously. They too didn't appreciate the fact that they could not remember much after the cat incident. Nico got up and, none too gently, kicked Taryn in the ribs, jolting the boy awake.  
"What's the meaning of this?" Nico demanded.  
"Huh?" Taryn yawned, not really comprehending. He looked around. "Nothing. Just ... we're not ..." It took a second before Nico realized Taryn had fallen asleep again.  
Magnus, impatient as always, grabbed Alec and headed for the source of the smell. "Let him sleep, there's more food for us."  
In the kitchen, Alec got a surprise. A face full of feathers. The boy, who could only be Knack from description, was limping around with plates of eggs, using his long wings to stabilize himself. Alec noticed that he also had a black tail, the very tip was white, and matte black horns close to the head and hidden by hair. The only reason Alec had spotted this was because it, too, had the very tips a snowy while color. Also seeing a pattern, Magnus grabbed one of Knack's wings, causing the boy to loose his balance and fall to the floor, spilling food. Magnus did find that the outmost feather on the wing was white.  
Alec helped the boy up and apologized profusely. He saw Magnus sit down at the table, Will began making more eggs, and Nico had disappeared in some shadows to observe.  
Once Knack was back on his feet, he was tackled to the ground.

\--------

Will watched with a medical eye how Knack continued to put weight on his busted left leg. Beneath his jeans was the faint outline of a splint, cleverly designed to be able to bend, but Will knew that would not be enough. The boy needed a week in bed, minimum. It did not help when Taryn burst into the room and brought Knack down again.  
"What were you doing, going off the grid for six years! ... Longer? We've been together for two hundred years and you wanted to make ten percent of it in THAT place? ... They're here too ... What? Fine, an hour." It was starting to seem like a one-sided conversation, as Knack wasn't making any moves, just staring at Taryn.  
The smell of burning eggs had Will turning back around to try to salvage someone's breakfast. When he turned around again, Knack was gone.  
Breakfast, which was really lunch, was a solemn affair as Taryn stabbed at his eggs dejectedly and no one was comfortable in invading on the silence. When the silence was broken, it was Nico.  
"What's our captor doing?" he jibed. Will elbowed the sulky boy but Taryn didn't seem to notice, sighing into a glass of water.  
"We leave in fifteen minutes. Don't ask where," he cut Nico off, "not even Knack knows. I don't think Knack can travel now, though, unless flying. But that can't happen. Will?"  
It took a moment for Will to realize Taryn was actually talking to him. Looking into the boy's face, Will was taken back by the seriousness. Gone was the happy go-lucky bouncing ball of joy, and before him was a being of centuries trapped in a young body. He was concerned, had always been concerned, but his it away from sight. Except for now. "Can you heal the leg?"  
Never had any camper come into Will with that much damage and been salvaged. But Will could never be called a healer if he didn't try.


	3. Fate and Hate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Foreshadowing and Solangelo fluff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for my writing style, it's a bit all over the place. I don't mean Knack (his thoughts are a mystery even to me) but how this narration is going. Sometimes, I can't even tell what I'm trying to say

\- Knack had run out of excess energy. If he used any more to heal himself, he wouldn't be able to lead. He only wanted use of his leg so he won't drag everyone down. Fate was after the four heroes, but destiny needed them. It would be too late to wait for heroes that were not chased by death. And the Taryn. The only one Knack would ever have that created close-to-romantic feelings. Such meanings of that kind of love could never truly Knack's core, but he did his best to have it spin nearby.  
\- Taking off his pants, Knack grimaced at the smell of infection. The clean natural air was always quick to push memories away, but as soon as the past comes back, the air was only a tease. His leg was coming close to beginning to rot, something that isn't easy to reverse. In hindsight, it would have been better to leave the tail unhealed, but that had actually hurt. The same bite that took away fractures of the upper femur also severed the nerve system so the leg was practically dead. It also meant he would limp until finding a way to replace the missing bone pieces.  
\- Knack closed the curtains of the room; working in the dark was easier. He reapplied poultices and fresh bandages, and put the brace on. And the Taryn was in the room, hands tight on the wing joints, whispering to not struggle. Darn him, he had blocked all of their minds, it was too dark for Knack to mouth an objection, to tell them a stone was only a few hundred yards away. He could have, should have, gone there an hour ago instead of making food. This wouldn't have happened.  
\- Then Alec was holding him down. Will and Magnus were ready to fix the limb. Only Nico, who stood in the corner, could sense Knack's mind trying to reach out. But the son of Hades knew how to push out unwanted voices. The bones in Knack's left leg fused together again, the skin became healthy as magic burned away infection, and blood pumped smoothly. But the nerves were also reconnected. All the pain, which had been transferred and stored in the leg since it became dead, rushed through his body. The only indication he gave was a moment of holding in his breath. Pain was a strange emotion that could only fade away in a live body, but slowly. Knack could have used the stone to heal the leg and store the pain at the same time. Now it would have to fade in Knack's left leg, no way to expel it without energy, which he was suddenly without.   
\- Knack heard the others in the room talk about how they gained instead of lost energy during the healing. Taryn shook his wings in a silent reprimand, knowing what had happened.  
\- The world rushed around him as the ten set out. The orange troublesome cat lay on his shoulders, supported by the bones of his wings. They were longer than the ratio of a typical bird of prey, more like an albatross's, but the feathers were formed and patterned like that of an owl's: silent. The three other companions flew alongside the group, unnoticed by even Taryn. Knack's mind observed the world through their eyes, looking for the signs. He trusted Taryn to lead the group around the rabbit ditches and could faintly feel he body lurching in its uneven gait.  
\- Taryn threaded his hand in Knack's, pulling them along. Rabbits fled back to their holes and deer picked their heads up as the group passed in the Bright colors of a June dusk. The three companions switched positions. One swooped closer to the group, letting Knack see Magnus lean down to give Alec a kiss in the romanti-- there! Had not their heads come together in that spot, Knack would have completely missed the sign. The oak tree, one in a thousand in the forest, with that patch of red and green that looked like mistletoe above the lovers' heads. Many trees could look like that, but Knack remembered ...  
\- A dream of slow air, a towering oak, a sweet kiss, the hiss of deamons, the wisdom of a tree -- the crack of a whip, the tightness of muscles ...

\--------

\- Nico looked away from the kissing men, a blush on his cheeks. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Will watching him, a strange emotion on his face. And then he saw the ground, a little beetle scuttling away from his nose, which really hurt.  
\- "Nico! Are you all right?" Will helped him sit up and began running his fingers over Nico's face.  
\- "I'm fine," Nico said gruffly, pushing the older boy away. He immediately regretted it, but he wasn't going to let anyone know it. "What tripped me?" he asked, sounding offended that anything would dare get in the way of the King of Ghosts.  
\- Taryn was leaning over a ball of feathers, trying to find an access point. The ball of feathers was Knack, curled up tightly on the ground, wings wrapped around and creating a barrier. Taryn frowned, then shook his head.  
\- "C'mon, let's walk and talk. Knack'll be able to go faster on wings." Taryn walked on quietly few a few minutes before speaking again. "I got a glimpse of where we're going. But it was at a strange angle of you two," he looks at Magnus and Alec, "and the creature was moving pretty fast. I want to try avoiding that creature as long as possible."  
\- "So you left Knack back with whatever that was?" Alec asked, sounding suspicious.  
\- Taryn looked over his shoulder at his four companions, who had stopped and eyed him warily. "Yeah. Knack's first well-known title among humans was KíßreaÆv, or Queen of Monsters, for a reason." Taryn started walking again, and was rewarded with four other sets of footsteps.  
\- "Wait," a confused Alec said, "isn't Knack ... male? I though you were boyfriends like me and Magnus." His voice had gotten quieter at the end of the sentence, as if he was still shy about it, but he didn't push off the eccentric warlock when said person leaned against him. Taryn laughed.  
\- "Who said we're all gay boys?" Alec blushed and Magnus mumbled something about being bisexual. Nico looked at his feet while Will tried to show Nico he was A-okay with this. Better than that, actually. But Nico didn't notice. "Knack got stuck with the female counterpart, by ways of human minds. Really, Knack's male, so he gives off a male appearance. Back way into the Ice Age Knack got that name. The only reason a monster would attack Knack is if it didn't know who Knack is, which is rare. He's one of the oldest things on Earth."  
\- The group was silent for a few moments before Magnus spoke up. "Ice Age, huh? Makes me feel better."

\- Nico woke up quietly. The ghosts around this place kept trying to push at his limits, but none of them were bold enough to come out with Nico in the area. Still, it was annoying to listen to their endless chatter in the land of dreams. Without moving, Nico shifted his hearing to the hushed voice across the sizzling embers.  
\- "I wasn't able to do anything for his birthday." That was Will.  
\- "You really like him, hm?" Taryn responded. "I know what you feel. Well, kind of."  
\- "How did your relationship with Knack start? Knack seems like Nico, not really touchy-feely." Will sounded a little desperate. Then it dawned on Nico. That really cute son of Apollo actually liked Nico back, he wasn't just being annoyingly friendly. For the first time Nico didn't push back that spark of hope while thinking about Will Solace.  
\- Taryn laughed. "They're both similar if you mean they are not-so-innocent virgin angels. In all honesty, I can't give you any advice about how to kiss a not-so-innocent virgin angel because I myself have not yet approached mine. In the one hundred eighty nine years we've been together, we've only held hands in a romantic manner three times. Any other touching wasn't caused by feelings, more necessity." Taryn didn't sound sad, just wistful at what was.  
\- "How did you meet?" Apparently Alec was also awake.  
\- "I don't believe now is the time to confuse you on what we are, individually and together. Just know that our overall structure is human, but the anatomy of our bodies does not match our gender. By the way, I prefer they pronouns, Knack likes male. Anyway, together is what we are."  
\- "So then -"  
\- "Shh," Taryn snapped suddenly. "I just realized Knack's somehow been watching. Go to sleep."  
\- But how could Nico go to sleep with Will breathing only a few feet away and a spark of hope igniting in his chest?

\-------

\- Will woke to the feeling of a warm body pressed against his. His first thought was that one of his younger siblings that had a nightmare. But then the lithe body stretched and started purring. That was definitely not one of his siblings.  
\- Will carefully sat up, because of the thing next to him and because his body hurt from sleeping on the ground. In the light of the rising sun, he saw that the orange troublesome cat had stretched itself out alongside Will, but also next to Nico. The cat had wedged itself between the two boys, the only thing that had separated them while sleeping.  
\- Suddenly, Will really hated that cat.


	4. Gambit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a bit more of the path of Fate is revealed. Note: Destiny and Fate are different

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will apologize in advance for any long updates or short chapters. I have no sense of the length each chapter is on my phone.

\- Magnus flipped out when Taryn told him not to use magic to change his clothes. He was wearing the simple clothes Taryn had dragged him out of his apartment with, and while that was fine for a day every couple decades, Magnus Bane would never be caught wearing it twice over two days. He actually attacked Taryn when the kid said he couldn't magic anymore glitter than he already had.  
\- The fight didn't last long; Alec didn't even have time to intervene before Magnus was lying on his back with the plain, sparkle-less person sitting on his chest. So Magnus grabbed the bottle of glitter he had magicked here, only one bottle, and upended it on his assailant. Technically Magnus did the assaulting, but that didn't matter now. This time Alec had to pull off the boy, now shining like a Twilight vampire, because he had taken to punching the warlock in the face.  
\- "Frick, Magnus!" Taryn shouted, wrenching away from Alec. "What in --"  
\- Taryn turned around suddenly. Standing up to see over the kid's head. It was only Knack, though, limping into camp. He smiled, and a voice whispered in Magnus' mind; 'Come. Soon.'  
\- Apparently he wasn't the only one to hear it, as Will and Alec started asking if anyone else heard the voice. Taryn smiled, Nico glared at Knack, and Knack began walking away, towards the direction they were to travel.  
\- "Let's go," Taryn said. "We can eat and walk." That's what they did, at the slow pace Knack set for the morning. The stale biscuits and cold bacon were not favorable, but Magnus ate it since he didn't really eat last night. Within a few hours they reached a clearing. Will said it was around ten o'clock by the sun.  
\- And then they reached a clearing, underneath the towering oak they had been looking for. Magnus didn't know how much he would come to hate clearings. This one was pretty, sunlit and green, the calls of birds around the edges. In the middle of the clearing was a door. A wooden door with paint chipped off and termite bites, stains that showed it stood for a long time. It was absolutely pondering. Magnus could not sense any kind of magic on the door, but nevertheless, it stood in the middle of that clearing.  
\- Knack completely ignored the door, walking past it to the oak tree. Following with the rest of the group, Magnus saw that there were words carved into the trunk. For centuries, it looked as if the words were continuously carved into again and again so the tree could not recover.  
\- the cat and sun to be eaten  
\- the ocean goes up in flames  
\- the darkness has the game beaten  
\- but no souls keep their names  
\- The poem reeked of loss and suffering, but before Magnus could suggest moving on, Knack brushed his hand across the words. As if nothing had ever scarred the tree, it showed no sign of ever bearing a prophecy. Only the memory of the words, which was quickly fading, remained.  
\- "That was the stupidest thing you've ever done."  
\- The group turned around to see a girl, a very blonde girl, leaning against the door. She smirked at them, taking in the sight of those who had intruded in her space.  
\- "The Fate if this group has just been tampered with." Her gaze fell on Knack. "What makes this stunt stupider than going to a wedding is that this is the second time you've done this."  
\- Alec stepped forward with a determined look in his eye. "No one can change Fate. That's impossible."  
\- The girl giggled. "Look at your friend there, then. I remember back when this first happened. 'No, Gambit,'" she mocked, "'Fate is not a ruler straight line.' Well I wish it was, 'cause it's your fault what happened the last time."  
\- Everyone could feel the unresolved tension in the air, Gambit angrily staring down Knack, who returned the gaze cooly. Magnus wanted to know what had happened, but now was not the time.  
\- As if sensing the rest of the groups' curiosity, Gambit started talking to them, as if Knack did not exist. "Fate is like a hiking path. Many people follow the premade trail, but not everyone has to. There are certain landmarks that lay along the way. Even people who do not follow the path straight forward pass the landmarks of time. Prophecies always depict the next landmark, but now Knack has erased this one. The next one will come into place, but you all better pass this one. A person can only afford to skip one landmark. More than that, and your a lost soul, forever looking for the direction to go in. Becoming that is worse than anything else ..." She stared off for a moment, remembering something, but returned to sneer at Knack. "This Thing has taken away the next landmark, changing things slightly. Now you will all have to wander around and get to the next one before it's too late. Earth will punish again, and this time, it won't only take you're voice." She gave a maniac laugh. "Look for yourselves. You're part of the game to get to this moment."  
\- And on the tree were new words that looked to be as old as the last, even though they just appeared. And reading them Magnus was liking option 1 much more.  
\- raised and razed by five  
\- all suffer but survive  
\- with consequences too heavy to bear  
\- and no result will be fair  
\- that who meddles with the lost  
\- hold upon their own to take their cost  
\- "Let's play the game of Fate," Gambit giggled. "Each of you must walk your way to the next landmark. It is dangerous, as Fate is whom decides where to put you. Your goal is to try to survive. There will only be one moment when you can get to the path to the moment of prophecy. If you miss this moment, you will eventually become one of the lost." She smiled and opened the door behind her. It dug furrows into the ground and beyond was a swirling black mist. Magnus had always been a coward, he knew he was, so he wasn't going to say he was scared. He didn't want to be alone to that mist by himself, and was relieved when Knack was told to go first.  
\- "Oldest first." Knack stepped forward, looking calm, too calm. But he had never shown emotion on his face before. He gave a sharp whistle, getting the attention of his cat. Instead of picking up the creature, he put it into Magnus's arms. His eyes asked him to take care of it.  
\- Then Knack stepped in through the door. The mist swirled and changed, becoming too bright to look at. It was like a silent movie, watching as the figure that was Knack get smaller and smaller, falling away from the door and towards the lava. He spread his wings, but not fast enough, going under the molten rock. Great amounts of steam was released, rising toward Magnus's view through the door. And the mist darkened and Knack's place was cut off.  
\- Taryn had gasped at the scene, but Magnus could not see their face, did not know if it saddened the kid. Magnus was about to step forward, not because he wanted to follow Knack, but Taryn got to the door first and flung himself into the mist. And splashed into the ocean without a sound.  
\- Gambit smiled poisonously at him, motioning him forward seductively. Instead of walking over to her, Magnus spun around to give Alec a kiss; not one of passion or lust, but one of love, of promise to find each other again. Magnus shifted the cat in his arms, which was surprisingly nice right now, closed his eyes, and felt himself fall through the door into another time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a feeling I'm not portraying Magnus to his full potential. I'll work on that in later chapters


	5. Don't Let It Shine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SolAngelo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, the story gets better in this chapter. I have no shame, I tell you.

\- Nico found himself in strange woods once through the door. He realized it was similar to those of Camp Half-Blood's, except Nico knew nothing of the set up. It's trees were smaller and closer together than the forest he had just left. He tried to call upon a shade, to tell him what was going on, but they whispered, fake, and drifted away. Then he heard a noise. Nico blended into the shadows of an old tree before someone burst through the brushes, cursing in Ancient Greek. It was a blonde boy, who was very naked. Nico blushed when he saw it was Will, and that he also lacked clothes.  
\- "F_ck!" Will exclaimed as he tripped again. He rolled on the ground, but didn't try to get up again, he seemed to be in pain. And he was clutching his inner thigh.  
\- Before Nico could dwell on that any longer, the sound of horses hooves echoed through the forest, fast despite the lack of a path. Seven men in armor rode past, barely even glancing around. They all wore greek armor and held swords at their sides, looking like older versions of the Ares' cabin. The birds dared not sing for a few moments after the men had passed, but then the forest was as peaceful as it had been.  
\- Will had not moved from his spot on the ground, and Nico was too self conscious of himself to step out of the shadows. Luckily, Nico didn't have to wait long before Will was found by other men. Unluckily, it was by a man driving a heavily built and guarded cart, and all of the men looked rather dirty and mean. One of the escorts spotted Will and called to the others.  
\- It took a second for Nico to realize they were talking in Ancient Greek. "Filthy run-away. He look nice, big money," one of them said.  
\- Another one picked up Will's body, but saw the bruises on the inside of his thigh. "Criminal. Keep until behaves." The others laughed at this. Nico pondered what they could mean while the men continued their conversation. Their suggestive movements and words were enough for Nico to realize they believed Will to be a rapist and were actually okay with this.  
\- Nico was jerked out of his thoughts as hands roughly grabbed him from behind. He tried to struggle but it was no use. The man was too big, too strong for him. The men laughed again at their luck for having caught two good looking boys in one day. Nico had a feeling their merchandise usually had a few broken teeth, or permanent limps. The slavers, for that is what they were, ran expert hands over Nico's body, causing him to blush deeply. One of them spat at Nico's feet and another said he was a pervert. It made Nico feel ashamed and he didn't fight as he and Will were tossed into the back of the cart.

\- Nico woke up when a horse screeched in alarm. Rat Girl started expressing her thoughts as soon as she saw he was awake again. Nico looked away as she had long taken her clothes off hours ago. Instead, he saw Gutter Man staring at the girl was intent in his eyes. Gods, what situation were they in?  
\- Beside him, Will murmured and began to stir. The cart lurched forward again, causing Will's head to knock against the back of the cart hard. He woke up with a jolt.  
\- "Will," Nico whispered. The girl got louder and the man joined in, setting his teeth on edge. "Will!"  
\- "Huh? Nico... Is that you?"  
\- "Yeah."  
\- "Where are we?"  
\- "... Somewhere strange... Will?"  
\- "Uh huh?"  
\- Nico uttered the truest words he had in a long time. "I'm scared."  
\- He heard Will shift in the darkness of the cart and felt the older boy's warm back pressing against his. And for once, Nico didn't move away from the contact.

\---------

\- Will kept hearing strange noises from the others in the cart. The noises made him really uncomfortable as they started to converge. He was unfortunate to be looking at where the man and girl were entangled when their captors opened the back and let light in. He would forever be mentally scarred.  
\- Nico didn't have to explain about the situation. It was pretty self-explanatory. The men, a total of fifteen including the driver and two finer dressed men who were probably the traders, unloaded their haul, individually binding each person with chords. The men then stood and waited around, talking to each other. It wasn't until the dirty captive peed that someone actually took him away. They're acting like we're dogs, Will thought, offended. But then again, wouldn't being a dog be better than this? Will looked at Nico, who stared stubbornly at the ground. The girl was carried away. Carefully angling himself away from the cute, dark, irresistible --no. He shouldn't even tempt himself into doing that publicly. He released the contents if his bladder, feeling the hot urine trail down his legs as his hand were behind his back. Next to him, Nico squatted down, making his business much neater. And then they were carried none-too-gently to a barn.  
\- Once sure that every soon-to-be slave, of which were over forty in numbers, was securely tied, the two finer dresser men called for the beginning. Of what, Will knew he would soon find out. Men came in with rags and buckets of water, more than just the team that had picked him up. Will suspected they were all hired to pick up runaways and criminals and sell them to wealthy people. The gold on some of their teeth said as much.  
\- One of them approached Will and began to roughly rub the damp rag against his skin. Any pressure on his bruises hurt a lot, which wasn't surprising considering he had fallen out of the door and onto a tree. Very uncomfortably. When the man finished washing Will, he unbound his legs and slipped white cotton pants onto his legs. Around the barn, others were wearing being dressing in the same attire. Despite the heat of the barn, and it must have been summer outside, Will wished he could wear more. The pant were barely that, so short and tight it was a miracle some of the guys were covered up. The women didn't even get a band to wear around their chests.  
\- A loud sound from the other side of the barn caught his attention. He whipped his head around to see Nico struggling to get away from the man who was trying to wash him. Which was difficult because his hands and feet were bound. Without thinking about it, Will ran towards Nico clumsily, dodging the hands that reached out to grab him. He ran straight into the man who had hands on Nico, bringing both of them to the ground. Someone held Will down by the shoulders so he couldn't get up. His hands, still tied behind his back, hurt his kidneys as he was pressed into the ground.  
\- They chained him to a wall close to Nico where he could see the boy but not reach him. Will watched as the man, who was one of the ones who had taken them, ran his hands over Nico's squirming body. It went on way too long and Will looked away uncomfortably. All the while the man whispered in Nico's ear. Occasionally Will could hear his friend whimper, but whenever Will looked over, he could not find a mark on the pale skin.  
\- After perhaps an hour more, the barn doors were shut leaving only the hushed whispers of the damned and faint light from the rafters, which was quickly disappearing. His body had finally gotten used to the heat, and the evening wind that whistled into the barn made him shiver. Will feel asleep imagining that he was a few feet over, stroking raven hair and whispering words of comfort.

\-----------

\- Nico sat up breathing heavily. His dreams of hands roaming his body were already disappearing. That didn't mean it never happened, that the man had tortured him without making a mark. Making him like the feeling of those rough hands, reminding him that liking such things were sin, whispering seductive things in a husky voice, then moving his hands so that Nico just wanted more. He wanted this man even though it was just a tease, a show. And it made him feel dirty inside.  
\- He saw Will against the wall in the dim light. The small rays of sun through rotting wooden boards seemed to reflect off of Will's hair, making it look more golden and soft than usual. His legs were sprawled in front of him, the shorts he wore hiding little. Nico felt a small blush on his checks as he stared at his companion's crotch, then the man's hands were on Nico again and he felt sick.  
\- He remembered that, was it only two nights ago?, a spark had kindled at Will's confession of liking Nico. Thinking back on the words, Nico realized that Will was just being friendly, that Nico's dirty mind had taken it the wrong way. He imagined the spark he had felt that night. Nico let it glimmer for another guilty moment, then imagined himself throwing it down, stomping it out so hard that it could never rekindle. The heat of that spark would need again touch his heart, he would make sure of that.

\----------

\- The sound of shuffling feet woke Will. He opened his eyes to see some of the men from yesterday following wealthier citizens. They looked like old portraits Chiron had hanging in the Big House, with white robes and laurels on their heads. Had he not been in such a position, Will would have been bouncing up and down to meet some of them. Now he didn't want anything to do with them.  
\- An older man, in comparison to some of the other people, started walking over to the wall Will was chained to. He pointed to the strong man on the other side of Will. Nico sat to his right.  
\- "This one was found with expensive jewels and covered in dirt. He seems very easy to train."   
\- The man in question looked up and started to babble. "Oh, kind sir"-he didn't look very kind, kinda hard and cruel-"it was my mother's heritage and the horse reared and it was too dark and--"  
\- "Silence," the potential buyer commanded and the man immediately shut up.  
\- They moved past Will, for reasons that made no sense. Perhaps he looked too soft. When the men looked at Nico, the boy growled up at them before either could talk.  
\- "No one will want you, boy," said the older man. "You must be obedient to your superiors or be fed to monsters."  
\- "I'll take my chances with the monsters," Nico spat.  
\- They moved on and things were uneventful. The barn got stuffier as the day moved on. Will attempted to talk to Nico, but the boy sulked and didn't answer. It was very different from having his body, frail and trembling, leaning against Will's for support. He talked to the "jewel thief" for a bit, but they were harshly told to shut up and the man spoke no more to Will.  
\- Will had been dozing off in the heat when the shouting startled him. He couldn't see anything as far away as the other end of the barn was - or was it because of the heat? - so glanced over at Nico. And his heart was beating.  
\- Nico's skin, slightly darker from the few weeks since the war, was covered in sweat, giving him a beautiful sheen. The way his hair was mused from shifting his hands in it just screamed, "hold me tight and kiss my breath away!" The way moisture had soaked through the "clothing" they wore and rendered it practically invisible did nothing to help Will's hormones. Not that the boy was flaunting anything around, but Will couldn't resist a peek. After all, he hadn't had the chance yesterday. Hoping to hide himself before Nico looked over, Will tucked his knees under his chin and put his ankles in front of his crotch. It didn't do much, but Nico didn't look over. Will was caught between relief and disappointment.  
\- "Get out!" someone yelled. And then it was quiet. A girl, no older than Nico, stepped into the barn, wearing elegant robes. The way she walked screamed royalty. If that wasn't enough, she dismissed the men who tried to escort her with a wave of her hand. Then she began to look over the captives, pausing to speak to each.  
\- Will noticed some unusual things as she got closer. Unlike all of the female buyers who had walked around the barn, she spoke without being heard. His ears still rang when he thought of the others and their high, shrill chittering. Worse than when the Aphrodite cabin watched Twilight for the first time. The girl was also wearing a lot of jewelry, sunlight reflecting off metal and gems on her wrists, ankles, neck, hair. That was a long black rope, the first half fixed into a bun and the rest hung down to her waist. Her long cream robes her modest, almost masculine, shape. The most unusual thing about the girl, though it seemed right, was that she wore no shoes. Her bare feet picked up dust as she walked to each individual.  
\- When she got to Nico, over an hour since entering the barn, she spoke in that soft whispering voice. She seemed too nice to be a slave buyer, which set off alarm bells in his head. Apparently Nico thought so, too. His words were short and clipped, but the girl was not deterred. After ten minutes Nico relaxed a bit and they exchanged a few more words. Then she moved to Will.  
\- He was very cautious of this girl. She might have enchanted the son of Hades, something that monsters with enough power would do. He did a very uncharacteristic thing for an offspring of Apollo: he didn't speak. Instead he compared their skin tones.  
\- "Do you think I should own a cat or a dog?" The innocent question caught Will off guard, but he didn't say anything. While his skin was tanned from California sun, hers was a much darker tone, as if she grew up in a place where winter was like his summer. It wouldn't be surprising.  
\- The girl asked a few more odd questions, but after Will didn't answer any of them she stood up. "It was nice getting to know you, Will."  
\- He glanced up quickly. Her eyes held no emotion except sincerity. He found himself nodding and she moved on. Looking over, he saw Nico watching him, but the boy turned his head quickly. What had gone on between the two of them?

\- The next day was a bustle. The men continued to retrieve some of the lesser valued slaves - scrawny boys, ugly women, living skeletons. They debated on taking Will or Nico out, but decided that they were "pretty boys get good money from rich girls." He was pretty sure one of them glared at Nico, but Will could not see his friend's reaction as something tugged at his restraints. He looked over his shoulder to see the jewel thief standing up and stretching.  
\- He smiled at Will's shocked expression. "That one pretty smart too. Boasting him would not be far from accurate."  
\- Will was still steaming when he was taken outside. He knew he shouldn't be mad over something like this, but the stress of the past few days was getting to him. Nico followed behind him and Will slowed down so they could walk together. He grabbed behind Nico's back, holding their bound hands together. It was calming. Then Nico pulled out of his grasp and dropped behind Will, making the message clear.  
\- Will struggled to hold back his tears as he stood in a line. Never had being rejected hurt so much. But then again, he'd never tried so hard before. Will tripped as he was pushed forward, his thoughts still on Nico. He didn't listen to the way the seller talked about him. Instead he heard the soft chatter of Nico's voice when he talked to Hazel. The blush on his cheeks when Will gave him a compliment. The way he had tolerated Will whenever Will could find him. Even now, Will tried to draw on Nico's strength. The strength of the boy to go through Tartarus alone, to grow up gay in the '40s, to stay at Camp Half-Blood when it would have been so easy to disappear into shadows. Will did not let one salty tear fall from his face.  
\- His final bid was between an old man who looked like he was spending his last penny and the girl. Her face was a mask of stone, a cold light in her eyes. Will had a feeling this was her real nature: a monster. The man made the highest bid he could and the crowd held it's breath.  
\- "Going once." Her eyes met Will's and they seemed to see into his soul. "Going twice." Her eyes went to the line of captives still to be sold behind him. Then he realized something. She would buy Nico. She would take him away with no one else who cared about him around. He called out and her eyes snapped back to his. He pleaded silently, but then -  
\- "This one goes to the man."  
\- The kind looking gentleman came up to pay for Will, but it wouldn't turn out like this for Nico. The boy would stand here and watch the cold, soulless girl purchase him, to use him, to throw him away. She would make the only thing Nico couldn't beat go after him: his inner doubts. Even if she wasn't supernatural, so many girls with such arts in deception could twist the mind to make one feel worthless and miserable. That was the thought that broke Will.  
\- The man pulled him into the crowd, asked what was wrong. Will could only get out, "my friend," before his throat closed.  
\- He watched through tears as Nico fought the hands that pulled him onto the stage. The show of resistance and strength caught the attention of several people with heavy pockets. It wasn't until the fourth round, when the prices were getting close to Will's, that the girl called over the crowd, "I'll take him for ninety pounds, his weight." People started muttering, as this was lower than the previous price. "And," she called, effectively shutting up the whole crowd, "one purebred Persian horse."  
\- No one in the crowd dared move and the auctioneer was practically drooling. He finally got his jaw to work, but before he could call anything out, a new voice challenged the previous price. "I will match that!" a handsome, richly dressed man on a beautiful horse called. "And add a thousand pounds onto it." Nico looked absolutely shocked. So did the girl. Whispers went through the crowd.  
\- "The Prince is going against the witch!"  
\- "Good. That boy deserves a longer life."  
\- "But a thousand pounds!? That's practically all of the money I've seen over my lifetime!"  
\- The voices stopped when the girl started to walk towards the Prince. People parted before her like water before Moses (is that right?). She glared up at him for a minute before turning around.  
\- "I offer the same. As well as eight hunting falcons."  
\- The Prince didn't hesitate. "I add fifteen of Athen's finest hunting dogs, plus five years of access to the food grown on the Northern Farm."  
\- Whispers started again. Will was hoping the girl couldn't offer any land, because it sounded like that was the most the Prince could offer.  
\- The girl stood in front of the Prince's horse, softly stroking its nose. She looked up at the bidder. "Scratch all previous offers. I trade one fully trained Cosoa Wyrm for the boy." No one dared move.  
\- "My final bid is the same as last," the Prince said. He looked unsure, and Will was sure this Cosoa Wyrm was something he wouldn't want to run into. The auctioneer conferred with the two traders for several minutes and Nico started to scan the crowd. He'd been looking at his feet during the bidding, but curiosity of the Prince had him scanning the crowd. His gaze went over Will without a flicker of emotion.  
\- Will's heart sank. It went farther when it was declared the Cosoa Wyrm would be traded for the boy. The girl disappeared while the bidding for other slaves continued. The Prince stayed, but he didn't give interest in any other.  
\- The last of the slaves was sold and the Prince turned his mount to leave when it reared wildly, screaming. The young man managed to stay on the beast, but it wasn't calming down. Finally, he got it the stand still for a second so he could dismount. Once the horse felt it no longer had a rider, it tore itself from the Prince and galloped off through the streets of the city, almost running over people.  
\- Then Will saw the source of its panic. That hated girl. It was probably more because of the monster at her side, but Will was starting to feel a deep-rooted hatred. Never had he felt this strongly toward someone, unless it was his passion to be Nico's friend and more.  
\- The monster, which was probably the Cosoa Wyrm, was worse than anything he had ever heard of. Will could see why slave traders would want it. It was like a giant lizard, as long as the horse was. But not the sleek gecko type. This was a giant with a short fat tail and short legs. Talons the size of lion claws clicked against the pavement stones as it moved. It had no eyes, but a long snout, similar to a dog's. When it opened its mouth, Will saw a mouth dripping poison, and tiny teeth that couldn't bite through anything, but definitely hold on to a leg or arm. It's sides dragged bat wings, which occasionally fluttered. Will shuddered at the idea of the thing dropping from the sky. On its back was probably the worse thing. Its eyes. In the form of a giant, hairy spider. It skittered up and down the monster's back, looking every which way.  
\- A child snuck up to the lumbering monster, trying to touch one of its trailing wings. The spider stopped and focused on the approaching child, but the lizard-thing didn't stop moving. A woman called out, but then the monster twisted as fast as a striking snake and grabbed the kid. It was large enough to grab the waist between its jaws.  
\- Will wanted to look away, but couldn't. The child wasn't even struggling, just limp in the hold of the terrible beast.  
\- The girl stopped ten yards from the slave traders. "This here is Qilsi and Annehrenat Samomli-Bassattedr Niriti the Third," she said, pointing to the lizard and then the spider. "Their very rare, and dangerous in the hands of those like you."  
\- The men began to feel that something was wrong. The youngest of them grabbed Nico and pressed a dagger to his throat hard. "Cale!" he called. "Try anything and --"  
\- "And what?" she scoffed. "You'll kill him. If you do that, you lose whatever the Price has to offer. I can always find another low-down, no-good, filthy gutter rat and give him a cart. I have nothing to lose but a Cosoa Wyrm. And that's not happening, today or any other day."  
\- The man pressed the dagger into Nico's throat, drawing a thin line of blood. "You want this one, though. Not even the Fates can bring him back."  
\- "The smell tempts Q and the emotions catch ASBN's eyes. You are scared. But look how nice this Cosoa is, to give you a head start. Better hurry," she deadpanned, "less than ten seconds to go."  
\- The men looked at each other, then turned and ran. Will watched as the Cosoa Wyrm scurried after them, faster than its large bulk and small legs lead one to believe. The spider had latched itself near the lizard's ear holes, offering sight from where the eyes normally were.  
\- Then he looked over to see if the girl, Cale would be gloating, but she was bent over Nico. Before Will's heart could even stutter in his chest, something ran into him from behind, making the world black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I take your heart out  
> To pound it into the ground  
> And keep you alive
> 
> The feels...

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for any inaccuracies, I didn't read the last book of TMI, but I did get a rundown of Magnus and Alec. It's really the only reason I read past the first book.


End file.
